..but, off course I bring spare chain adjusters..
Have broken a few before...
The other guys drove the last bit to Landmannalaugar, while I replaced the chain adjuster.
Just before Landmannalaugar there are two water crossings.. but I wasn't sure how deep they were. And since the other guys where waiting for me, I parked my bike next to their car. But I could have ridden over the water crossings after watching a car pass them, they were not too deep.. but then again the water level rises during the day.
I met some German bmw riders I saw on the ferry, they were camping there. They asked where I left the indian.. maybe with a slight undertone that it was not capable of riding all the way out there.. but it was fun to tell them that the bike was parked nearby:)
I almost ran over to bike, just to ride it through the water crossings....
If one doesn't always have the best available tool for the job... well, you can still get a lot done with lots of commitment and ingenuity:)
Nowadays.. most people at my age and below seems to have lost alot of the lust for the demanding adventures, and doesn't always have the commitment and stamina to push themselves to fix practical things. It much easier living in front of the tv and their usual environment and just buy new when the old things fail.
Anyway, we hiked up in the lava-land and the mountains for the whole day.
Every now and then they set up the videocamera to shoot some videoclips.
The band was off course dressed in leather pants etc, so at lot of the tourists were staring:)
It's hard to represent Landmannalaugar in pictures. It's a mix of lava, mountains with lots of colours, water, black rocks, steam rising from behind the rocks etc. If you sit down, the rocks are warm... but one needs to careful, since one run the risk of getting superheated steam up your .. ..well, you understand.
Solstafir and the camera man shot from underwater, with a waterproof camera.
I have later heard some music from the Solstafir rock band, it's probably too dark music for some of you.. but it kind of represents the Icelandic nature. Wild, rough, remote, deadly.. but still very beautiful in it's own way.
Colourful mountains
Lava-land
After a long day, and then a bath in an hot spring ( Heitur Pottur in Icelandic).. we started on the long way back to Reykjavik.
The guys wanted to try making some video of me and my bike, so they did a lot of filming from the car and by the side of the road.
Rightclick (and Save Target as..) the image to download the cool Indian videoclip edited by Matti
The Chief bluesmoke looks right at place...right ?
At this stage, the fuel line and filter had been clogged by loose bits of tank sealer.
And yeah.. the clutch was slipping when trying to kick that 84" engine over..
So, the bike needed a push every now and then..just to ride for 1 more minute. Back at the gaspump, I was lucky to find a airfiller for tires..so it was very easy cleaning out the debris in the gas lines.
The rest of the trip back to Reykjavik went well, and this time the car had problems following me on the twisty roads:)
The oil consumption.. well, at this point each gas refill was followed by up to filling up with up to a 1/2 litre of oil. The bumpy roads also contributed to the oil consumption, since quite a bit of oil came out of the oil tank vents.
Back in Reykjavik at 2300 it was just a short shower and then off to a party. Reykjavik is known for it's nightlife, and since I'm single and live in a too small town in Norway.. I'm always ready to see if there are anyone out there for me..:)
Well, this was a weekend where lots of people leave Reykjavik for some festivals etc.. so it was more quiet than usual. And, since the drinks and beer is very expensive in Iceland.. people sit at home until 0200 (AM) at night..and then they go out and drink until 0600 in the morning.
Well, at 0200 it was way beyond bedtime for me.. so I have to go to Reykjavik another time...
Have broken a few before...
The other guys drove the last bit to Landmannalaugar, while I replaced the chain adjuster.
Just before Landmannalaugar there are two water crossings.. but I wasn't sure how deep they were. And since the other guys where waiting for me, I parked my bike next to their car. But I could have ridden over the water crossings after watching a car pass them, they were not too deep.. but then again the water level rises during the day.
I met some German bmw riders I saw on the ferry, they were camping there. They asked where I left the indian.. maybe with a slight undertone that it was not capable of riding all the way out there.. but it was fun to tell them that the bike was parked nearby:)
I almost ran over to bike, just to ride it through the water crossings....
If one doesn't always have the best available tool for the job... well, you can still get a lot done with lots of commitment and ingenuity:)
Nowadays.. most people at my age and below seems to have lost alot of the lust for the demanding adventures, and doesn't always have the commitment and stamina to push themselves to fix practical things. It much easier living in front of the tv and their usual environment and just buy new when the old things fail.
Anyway, we hiked up in the lava-land and the mountains for the whole day.
Every now and then they set up the videocamera to shoot some videoclips.
The band was off course dressed in leather pants etc, so at lot of the tourists were staring:)
It's hard to represent Landmannalaugar in pictures. It's a mix of lava, mountains with lots of colours, water, black rocks, steam rising from behind the rocks etc. If you sit down, the rocks are warm... but one needs to careful, since one run the risk of getting superheated steam up your .. ..well, you understand.
Solstafir and the camera man shot from underwater, with a waterproof camera.
I have later heard some music from the Solstafir rock band, it's probably too dark music for some of you.. but it kind of represents the Icelandic nature. Wild, rough, remote, deadly.. but still very beautiful in it's own way.
Colourful mountains
Lava-land
After a long day, and then a bath in an hot spring ( Heitur Pottur in Icelandic).. we started on the long way back to Reykjavik.
The guys wanted to try making some video of me and my bike, so they did a lot of filming from the car and by the side of the road.
Rightclick (and Save Target as..) the image to download the cool Indian videoclip edited by Matti
The Chief bluesmoke looks right at place...right ?
At this stage, the fuel line and filter had been clogged by loose bits of tank sealer.
And yeah.. the clutch was slipping when trying to kick that 84" engine over..
So, the bike needed a push every now and then..just to ride for 1 more minute. Back at the gaspump, I was lucky to find a airfiller for tires..so it was very easy cleaning out the debris in the gas lines.
The rest of the trip back to Reykjavik went well, and this time the car had problems following me on the twisty roads:)
The oil consumption.. well, at this point each gas refill was followed by up to filling up with up to a 1/2 litre of oil. The bumpy roads also contributed to the oil consumption, since quite a bit of oil came out of the oil tank vents.
Back in Reykjavik at 2300 it was just a short shower and then off to a party. Reykjavik is known for it's nightlife, and since I'm single and live in a too small town in Norway.. I'm always ready to see if there are anyone out there for me..:)
Well, this was a weekend where lots of people leave Reykjavik for some festivals etc.. so it was more quiet than usual. And, since the drinks and beer is very expensive in Iceland.. people sit at home until 0200 (AM) at night..and then they go out and drink until 0600 in the morning.
Well, at 0200 it was way beyond bedtime for me.. so I have to go to Reykjavik another time...
...the following sunday was spent off the bike..
Went swimming in the atlantic sea, on a nice beach outside Reykjavik.
13 degrees celcius in the water, and some 18 degrees air temperature.
Well.. a bit to cold in the for my taste... but refreshing it was!!
Swimmin' in the atlantic sea.
Since Iceland has a giant supply of water in the ground, and natural water heating due to geothermal activity, there are swimmingpools and hottubs in almost every town and city. Must be nice to relax in a hottub outside in the dark and cold winter..
Had to try the waterproof camera in the water slide...
Pulled the clutch apart, and put on some more pressure on the clutch with an additional clutch plate I had brought along. The clutch had been acting funny before I went on this trip, so I brought a spare clutch plate.
After a dinner with my brother's family inlaw, I rode the chief down to the center of Reykjavik to the place the motorcycle riders meet.
Well, the old chief got a lot of attention there.
It seems that there are some vintage motorcycles in Iceland, but they are rarely seen on the road. The chief bluesmoke is no longer a perfect museum piece, but the guys I talked to there said that this is the way they like to see the old bikes.. well used, and out on long trips. I couldn't agree more:)
I don't think there have been to many motorcycles in Iceland during the years. Well, the Reykjavik police rides Harleys (but have added some faster bikes now).. but it seems like the motorcycle population has grown quickly in the last years due to growing economy.
I felt there it was a slight anarchy among the squids and supermoto riders.. riding way too fast in the city and the supermoto guys used the inner city as a playground. You would be caught and put in jail in Norway for doing that. Because of this, not all the people like the motorcyclists.. and there are often accidents.
But.. most of the guys played it safe. And there were several guys who offered me help with my bike if something happened while in Iceland.
Downtown Reykjavik
This time I found the way back to the house with less trouble.. way to late again though.. not much sleep so far in this trip...:)
Went swimming in the atlantic sea, on a nice beach outside Reykjavik.
13 degrees celcius in the water, and some 18 degrees air temperature.
Well.. a bit to cold in the for my taste... but refreshing it was!!
Swimmin' in the atlantic sea.
Since Iceland has a giant supply of water in the ground, and natural water heating due to geothermal activity, there are swimmingpools and hottubs in almost every town and city. Must be nice to relax in a hottub outside in the dark and cold winter..
Had to try the waterproof camera in the water slide...
Pulled the clutch apart, and put on some more pressure on the clutch with an additional clutch plate I had brought along. The clutch had been acting funny before I went on this trip, so I brought a spare clutch plate.
After a dinner with my brother's family inlaw, I rode the chief down to the center of Reykjavik to the place the motorcycle riders meet.
Well, the old chief got a lot of attention there.
It seems that there are some vintage motorcycles in Iceland, but they are rarely seen on the road. The chief bluesmoke is no longer a perfect museum piece, but the guys I talked to there said that this is the way they like to see the old bikes.. well used, and out on long trips. I couldn't agree more:)
I don't think there have been to many motorcycles in Iceland during the years. Well, the Reykjavik police rides Harleys (but have added some faster bikes now).. but it seems like the motorcycle population has grown quickly in the last years due to growing economy.
I felt there it was a slight anarchy among the squids and supermoto riders.. riding way too fast in the city and the supermoto guys used the inner city as a playground. You would be caught and put in jail in Norway for doing that. Because of this, not all the people like the motorcyclists.. and there are often accidents.
But.. most of the guys played it safe. And there were several guys who offered me help with my bike if something happened while in Iceland.
Downtown Reykjavik
This time I found the way back to the house with less trouble.. way to late again though.. not much sleep so far in this trip...:)
...well, the next day.. monday.. it was time to do the gravel roads in the Reykjanes area. If I remember correct, this is the among the latest (in the year 1100 ?) piece of the mainland to be created by nature and lava.
Now the clutch didn't slip when the engine was cold, good...:)
Decided to leave as much as possible at the house.. since I was going to have fun on the gravel again. For some reason, I also managed to leave the spare gps batteries and the power cable also.. the bike has a 12 volt output.
Anyway, I rode the main road out to Keflavik where the international airport is located. And took a short look around before heading towards the Blue Lagoon. The blue lagoon is a special hot pool which is saturated with silica mud.. which is good for you skin.
Yeah.. the old indian got a lot of attention when I parked it outside.. the lagoon is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Iceland.
I'm not sure if it helped my looks much... but the skin actually got softer from the silica mud:)
After 45 minutes I was ready to get dirty again.. with my riding gear on, off course..
The lava-land was pretty rough, and there are caves and openings in the ground.
"Chief Bluesmoke says: this is some weird shit.. we're no gonna ride out there.. are we?"
Now the clutch didn't slip when the engine was cold, good...:)
Decided to leave as much as possible at the house.. since I was going to have fun on the gravel again. For some reason, I also managed to leave the spare gps batteries and the power cable also.. the bike has a 12 volt output.
Anyway, I rode the main road out to Keflavik where the international airport is located. And took a short look around before heading towards the Blue Lagoon. The blue lagoon is a special hot pool which is saturated with silica mud.. which is good for you skin.
Yeah.. the old indian got a lot of attention when I parked it outside.. the lagoon is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Iceland.
I'm not sure if it helped my looks much... but the skin actually got softer from the silica mud:)
After 45 minutes I was ready to get dirty again.. with my riding gear on, off course..
The lava-land was pretty rough, and there are caves and openings in the ground.
"Chief Bluesmoke says: this is some weird shit.. we're no gonna ride out there.. are we?"
The road following the coast is not bad.. but it has several blind curves and some loose rocks. So it is best to take it easy, at least in the curves. Saw a crashed car there, left to be picked up.
A lot of tourists do end up doing unintentional offroad driving actually.. and I saw some typical rental cars that had rolled over.
Just had to post this ...one of my favourite pictures..
A lot of tourists do end up doing unintentional offroad driving actually.. and I saw some typical rental cars that had rolled over.
Just had to post this ...one of my favourite pictures..
I hooked up the videocamera to shoot some video of some gravel road riding.. but after a while the camera was so full of the red lavadust that it stopped working.. I had sealed most of the camera, but the tiny particles still entered the camera. And off course the watercrossing was not recorded :(
Anyway.. there's a nice cliff full off birds nearby.. so I went down to take a look. And, I remember a hill there from my parent's pictures from when they visited my brother in Iceland. They got out of the Landrover when he went over that hill. Well.. if he can do it with a landrover... I can do it with an Indian!!
Not such a good idea.. but I got up there...and it wasn't that bad, the bike found the bumpiest route up there.. it was just a matter of holding on to the handlebars:)
I don't have the handclutch and all that suspension travel as you guys with your fancy adventure bikes have...:)
One thing that I noticed when riding in Iceland was all the places people had settled and lived along the coast. There were old houses, old caves which had been converted into houses etc..
Also near the birdcliff there were something resembling old houses..
Then, I had to go back down again..but that was easy following the smooth route.
Should be easy from here..
Anyway.. there's a nice cliff full off birds nearby.. so I went down to take a look. And, I remember a hill there from my parent's pictures from when they visited my brother in Iceland. They got out of the Landrover when he went over that hill. Well.. if he can do it with a landrover... I can do it with an Indian!!
Not such a good idea.. but I got up there...and it wasn't that bad, the bike found the bumpiest route up there.. it was just a matter of holding on to the handlebars:)
I don't have the handclutch and all that suspension travel as you guys with your fancy adventure bikes have...:)
One thing that I noticed when riding in Iceland was all the places people had settled and lived along the coast. There were old houses, old caves which had been converted into houses etc..
Also near the birdcliff there were something resembling old houses..
Then, I had to go back down again..but that was easy following the smooth route.
Should be easy from here..
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